SOUTHLAKE — If Guyer head coach John
Walsh could bottle up his team’s first-half play from the first two weeks of
the football season, he’d be a happy man.

Unfortunately for Walsh and his
Wildcats, their second-half performance in both games has left a lot to be
desired, and they are left searching for their first win of the season after
seeing a 10-point halftime lead evaporate into a 54-38 loss to Colleyville Heritage.

“I have to figure out, with this bunch,
how to be a better halftime coach,” Walsh said. “We talked about halftime, but
maybe we have to re-evaluate how we do halftime because right now we’re not a
very good halftime team.”

Guyer (0-2), the No. 7 team in The
Associated Press Class 4A state poll, built a halftime lead by forcing its
first punt of the season and capitalizing on a Heritage (2-0) turnover while
watching as junior quarterback Jerrod Heard had three first-half rushing
touchdowns.

But like last week, when Guyer watched a
seven-point halftime deficit turn into a 26-point loss to Cedar Hill, the
Wildcats’ fortunes started to turn in the second half.

After Heritage quarterback Cody Thomas,
an Oklahoma commit, led the Panthers 55 yards to open the second half in under
a minute, capped by a 35-yard scoring strike to Daniel Farrington, the Wildcats
were clinging to a three-point lead.

On the next play from scrimmage, Heard
carried the ball 75 yards up the middle of the field to put Guyer back in
front, 38-28. After that, nothing went right for the Wildcats.

Guyer’s defense turned the ball over on
downs deep in its own territory, but on the next Heritage drive, the Panthers
went on a marathon 14-play drive that ended with a 17-yard missile Thomas
threaded between three Guyer defenders to Kaelin Deboskie to bring Heritage
back within a field goal.

Thomas finished his night completing 30
of 41 pass attempts for 363 yards and five passing touchdowns. He rushed for
two more scores, including an emphatic 44-yard touchdown scamper to put the
game away on which he bulled over a Guyer defender at the Wildcats’ 20 before
finishing off the run.

“He’s got it all as far as being a
strong kid and being strong in the pocket,” Walsh said of Thomas. “He can get
out of the pocket and make plays with his legs, too. He’s extremely accurate.
Those guys are hard to beat. We were covering good and he made some great
throws, and then you can’t make busts [in coverage] with guys like that, and we
had a lot of busts.”

The final nail in Guyer’s coffin came on
the Wildcats’ ensuing possession when they drove to the Heritage 22-yard line
while nursing a three-point lead.

That’s when Heard and running back
Richard Whitaker botched a handoff attempt and Heritage defensive lineman
Donovan Kleckner recovered the ball. Six plays later, Heritage was in the end
zone again after another Thomas touchdown pass.

“He is a real accurate passer,” Walsh
said of Thomas. “He’s a big-time quarterback. Hats off to him.”

The Wildcats’ second half was a complete
180-degree turn from the first, when the Wildcats were in control of the game.
It started immediately for Guyer, who opened the game with a 14-play scoring
drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock. On Heritage’s ensuing drive,
Guyer held Thomas and his teammates to a three-and-out, forcing its first punt
of the season.

On Heritage’s next drive, the Wildcats’
defense came up big.

Thomas found Brett Bofinger in the flat
for a 3-yard gain, but he fumbled on contact and Guyer defensive tackle Domenic
Pickering recovered the ball to give the Wildcats the ball at the Heritage
43-yard line.

Six plays later, Guyer was in the end
zone on a 6-yard keeper by Heard to put the Wildcats up 14-0 at the end of the
first quarter.

“We’ve played two good halves with two
good teams where we’ve been right in the ballgame,” Walsh said. “I have to
figure out how to coach at halftime.”

Guyer managed just six second-half first
downs, while allowing 17 to Heritage, and the Wildcats had 277 total yards at
halftime but finished with just 473. Guyer gave up 575 yards to the Panthers
after they had just 186 in the first half.

Guyer fell to 5-1 all-time at Dragon
Stadium.

Next week, Guyer will get a chance to
get its first win of the season against a more run-heavy Flower Mound Marcus
team than the two opponents Guyer has lost to through the air. Guyer defeated
Marcus in the bi-district round of the Class 5A playoffs in 2010, in a game
that came down to the final seconds.

“It’ll be a welcomed sight,” Walsh said.
“I’m tired of getting that ball thrown all over me. The run game will be
welcomed, but I’m sure they’ll try to throw it all over us too after they see
us on film.”

As for Guyer’s passing game, Heard had
140 passing yards at the half but managed just 73 more in the second half to go
with an interception that set up another Panthers’ touchdown to put them up 10
points midway through the fourth quarter. Heard rushed for 137 yards and four
touchdowns.

“What I’ll say about Jerrod is he’s got
to put the second half together like he does the first,” Walsh said. “Our
offense goes as he goes, and the second half we haven’t got him going in either
game.”

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